2004 will mark our 10^th Anniversary and it is hard not to be a bit nostalgic and reflect back over the milestones and events-both good and bad, that shaped us. Many of you have watched this business grow from just about the beginning and your continued support is the reason we are still here today. I hope you can bear with me while I recount some of the ‘highlights’!

I moved to this property with my partner and our extended family of 6 children (a bit of a ‘Brady Bunch’) in August of 1993 and a major house renovation was undertaken. My husband died following a brief illness about 10 weeks after moving here. Just a couple of ‘minor’ life changing events… At the time I was working as a medical lab technologist and this was when hospitals were going through major cutbacks, outsourcing and restructuring.

Let’s face it, I needed a change and the opportunity arose. I was intrigued by the medicinal uses of herbs and was spurred on by John who was a good friend of my late husbands and I. He loved to cook and was hooked on the culinary side of it. So we began planting a few herbs and experimenting with some herb oils and vinegars. We gave some to family and friends (our usual guinea pigs) and all came back with rave reviews and orders for more.

During this time I took my Chartered Herbalist course, I always believed that to do something well you should try and learn as much about it as possible before you begin-unfortunately I am not sure this sediment has reached my children yet! We then registered the company and ‘Kettleby Herb Farms ‘ was born!

It wasn’t long before we realized that we were going to need a lot more herbs to keep up with the product demand and expand it! Luckily the land was there, however it had been planted with ‘Feed Corn’ the year before and had not been tilled since. Not to worry…Sue had three boys ages 10, 11 and 12 at her disposal and they worked along with us to clear about 2 acres of the field -literally pull out every corn stalk by hand. I tried to convince them that it was taking them back to their roots and they would better appreciate the advances in technology by doing this…I don’t think they bought it, because they still to this day refer to this place as a slave camp! I also remember the man who delivered us truck loads of top grade organic compost and could barely contain himself when I told him to dump them on the cleared field which was basically pure sand. He obviously thought I had lost my mind!

I planted about quarter the area that spring with about 60 different varieties of herbs. A mix of the culinary herbs that we needed and some medicinal herbs so I could learn more about them and do some experimenting.

That fall with a larger inventory of products we began doing some fairs and craft shows.

Business was steadily growing and the gardens were extended to cover about ½ of the cleared area now. Our product line had increased to about 50 products, both culinary and now also ‘Bath & Skin Care products! Through trade shows we had determined that people were very interested in herbs and wanted to learn as much as possible about them. Our timing was right! So a decision was made to open the farm to the public the following spring…oh boy, I am not sure we really understood what impact that was going to have on our lives! We had also attracted some interest from Garden Centres who were interested in carrying a wider variety of herb plants than were currently available from their regular suppliers to meet their customer demands. Some smaller specialty stores were now selling our products. Some of you had even ventured out to find us and braved our rather challenging driveway….you just had to have more Garlic Oil (Absolutely Garlic), so we set up a small product area in the Dinning Room.

With the decision made to open officially to the public, added to the wholesale interest, our indoor growing operation-similar to the illegal ones we are hearing about today-you know a room in the basement with lights, had to be expanded. That fall two large greenhouses were put up complete with heat, benches, water and everything else we would need to give us a growing capacity of approximately 20,000 plants. Sure hope this works, because the debts are mounting!

We opened to the public on May 1-it was cold and miserable and we saw 1 customer! This is the year we learned that our plant tags were not waterproof!!! I spent the next couple of seasons identifying mystery plants for our understanding customers. A very late cold snap resulted in the lost of most of our Basil Plants 1 week before they were to be shipped to the Garden Centres-are we having fun yet! Luckily the weather improved and so did our season. With help from our children Greg, Doug, Steve, Kim, Jennifer & Sarah we were fortunate to have a handy and flexible work force. The garage was turned into a combination drying area and store. We started offering supplies for the ‘do it yourselfers’ and Educational Programs-these were held in the house. This year I also did a number of lectures for local Herb Guilds, Horticulture groups and participated in Richter’s Growers Conference. We also launched our first Web Site.

Our Highway signs are put up on Hwy 400, our Sunday afternoon Lecture Series begins, and we hold our first ‘Dinner to Die For’ workshop. I remember this one well as we were having such a great time the last participants didn’t leave until after midnight-it should have ended at 10! We also enjoyed some wonderful promotion thanks to –The Toronto Star, The Sun, Breakfast TV, Life Network.

We produced our first catalogue and received enthusiastic mail order response. Our gardens had matured enough and with the help of other Canadian Growers were now offering a wide selection of Dried Botanicals. My sister Liz began ‘officially’ working for us (she was always one of our biggest promoters and our most valuable volunteer). Our plant list was up to about 120 varieties of herbs and our product line was reaching 100.

From 11am to 4pm both days

• A belated Welcome to Rita Leslie, the latest addition to the Kettleby Crew. Rita is a Chartered Herbalist with extensive plant knowledge and those who have had a chance to meet Rita over this past season, will agree that she is a great addition!
• Thanks to our spectacular waitresses, Kathy Hay and Teresa Keffer who helped us through our ever popular and busy Teas in the Herb Garden with style, grace and humour!
• It is almost ready…….Our new Cookbook- ‘More Cooking with Kettleby Herb Farms’ is in the final editing stage and should hopefully be available in time for our Open House in November.
• Just in time for Christmas Entertaining & Holiday Gift Giving- Liz’s much raved about baked goodies and like "Rosemary Lemon Shortbreads, Lemon Grass & Almond Biscotti and her infamous "Garlic Brownies" Back for Christmas- "Bark with a Bite"-a chocolate almond bark with garlic & cayenne.
• A great assortment of gift packs are also available, some of which include limited edition products, like Tomatillo Salsa. We can also ship your gift for you!
• Please note that with the exception of our Open House days we are now open by appointment only.
• Hard to believe another season is coming to an end and that 2004 will mark our 10^th Year! Wow, time really flies when you are having fun…….well, a least most of the time! As I reflect back, I am amazed at how fortunate we have been to have had such wonderful support from our customers, or perhaps friends would be a better word. Many of you have watched and listened ( probably to more than you wanted to hear on occasion) to the Kettleby Herb Farm ups & downs from the beginning. You have unselfishly promoted us at every opportunity and even volunteered to weed the gardens! Thank you from the bottom of my heart. I am sincerely humbled by your kindness, dedication and support. A business is only as good as its customers and we have the best!